Ethical and Responsible Research
The ER2 program funds projects that develop, improve, and spread ethical research practices in STEM, aiming for inclusive and equitable research cultures.
This grant is no longer accepting proposals
U.S. National Science Foundation has archived this opportunity.
Funder: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Due Dates: January 23, 2025 (Full Proposal) | January 22, 2026 (Annual Thereafter)
Funding Amounts: Total anticipated funding $5.4 million; awards range from $50,000 (conferences) to $700,000 (up to 4 years for Partnership projects)
Summary: Supports projects that develop, improve, and disseminate responsible and ethical research practices in STEM, fostering inclusive, equitable, and respectful research cultures.
Key Information: Proposals encouraged from EPSCoR jurisdictions, minority-serving institutions, women's colleges, organizations serving persons with disabilities, and international collaborations; limit of 2 proposals per PI/co-PI.
Description
The Ethical and Responsible Research (ER2) program by NSF funds projects that explore and promote responsible and ethical research practices within STEM fields. It aims to foster organizational cultures that value and reward such practices, spanning multiple career stages including students, postdoctoral fellows, faculty, and practitioners.
ER2 supports a broad range of projects including:
- Development and dissemination of interventions to promote ethical research.
- Examination of challenges that undermine responsible research and evaluation of mitigation strategies.
- Studies on organizational and cultural factors that influence ethical research.
- Research on mentoring, inclusive environments, co-designing research with communities, and the impact of technologies like AI on research ethics.
- Engagement strategies for responsible public interaction.
The program encourages multidisciplinary, inter-organizational, cross-sector, translational, and international collaborations, especially involving underrepresented groups and EPSCoR-eligible jurisdictions.
Types of Projects Supported
- Conference Projects: Up to $50,000 for up to 12 months; designed to foster new research and standards in ethical research practices.
- Incubation Projects: Up to $100,000 for up to 12 months; support collaboration across organizations to develop future ER2 proposals.
- Standard Research Projects: Up to $400,000 for up to 3 years; generate new knowledge on fostering ethical research.
- Partnership for Transformational Research (PTR) Projects: Up to $700,000 for up to 4 years; support innovative strategies within partnerships of two or more organizations to embed ethical research practices.
Awardees must share deliverables such as ethics case studies and instructional materials with the Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science (OEC) and participate in biennial PI meetings.
